Final Goodbye
by melissarxy1
Summary: I know, this is way late but i didn't find out about this site until this summer. It's post the Gift. R & R please


Final Goodbye  
  
"These broken dreams are not what they seem There's so much more than this I can't see how she won't think now of every thing we've missed" -Sugar Ray  
  
They all stood looking down at the grave. Dawn, Willow, Xander, Giles, Anya, Cordelia, Wesley, Tara, Oz, Riley, and Spike. Oz and Riley had come back into town upon hearing of Buffy's death. They had requested to have the ceremony at night due to the fact the some members of the congregation couldn't make it until sundown. They all wondered if he would show up.  
  
"'Ashes to ashes,'" the minister was reading. Willow began to sob. Tara put her arm around the other girl. Xander stood silent tears running down his face. Even Cordelia and Anya were crying. Wesley stood back looking regal and somber in his suit. The minister left after the funeral was done. Dawn stared at the grave more tears filling her eyes. She could hear the whispered conversation between Willow and Giles.  
  
"It's too much for her to take," Willow was saying.  
  
"I know," Giles said. "She'll stay with you tonight. Then we'll figure out what to do." Willow took Dawn's arm and led her away from the graveyard. Then one by one the group left.  
  
"And I want to thank you  
  
For giving me the best day of my life"  
  
-Dido  
  
9:00  
  
Wesley looked at Buffy's grave. He laid a single white rose there. "There's really not much that I can say," he said. "Except thank you for getting me fired. It really was the best thing that had ever happened to me. Now, I believe that I'm where I belong. I believe that I actually do belong somewhere." He paused. "The world will miss you." He walked away.  
  
"Please stay away until the end of the night Where nothing on the run Please stay away until I can find the reason and the fun Though I've seen all their happiness I can only be down Go take your soul make an ode to the lonely hearted" -Sugar Ray  
  
9:30  
  
Anya knelt before Buffy's grave. "I don't know what I should say," she said. "I don't even really know why I'm talking to a piece of stone but it seems right. I barely knew you. I didn't really have the time to know you. But you were still a friend." She laid a yellow rose at Buffy's grave. "I don't know how to say good-bye. I've never really had to do it. But they say that good people go to a place called heaven and I'm good now so I guess I'll see you there." She left.  
  
"She falls apart by herself No one's there to talk or understand Feels the string dries her eyes Finds herself opens the door and sighs" -Sugar Ray  
  
10:00  
  
Tara laid a white rose at the foot of Buffy's grave with Anya and Wesley's. "I'm not great with words so I'll just say it simply," Tara said. "You helped me and Willow many times. You were my friend. One of my only friends ever. Thank you for your friendship. Good-bye."  
  
"Storm keeps on twisting keeps on building the lies That you make up for all that you lack It don't make one difference escape one last time It's easier to believe In this sweet madness oh this glorious sadness That brings me to my knees  
  
In the arms of the angel fly away from here From this dark cold hotel room and the endlessness that you fear You are pulled from the wreckage of your solid reverie You're in the arms of the angel may you find some comfort here" -Sarah McLachlan  
  
10:30  
  
Oz knelt before Buffy's grave laying a white rose beside the other three's roses. "Well," he said softly. "I guess I'll just say a simple goodbye. Life may have been easier without you but it would have been sort of empty. So it's better like this. Minus the you being dead part. So goodbye."  
  
"Don't let the sun go down on me Although I search myself  
  
It's always someone else I see"  
  
-Elton John  
  
11:00 Cordelia laid a yellow rose at the foot of Buffy's grave. "I was jealous of you did you know that?" she asked. "You were strong, you knew who you were, and you never really attempted to hide who you were. You were who I wanted to be. Now, I have a special place in the world and I don't really want it anymore. But in the same, I wouldn't give it up for anything.  
  
"I also felt like I could tell you anything. I talked to you about being alone. Then when I realized that I was in love with Xander I told you before I told anyone. Still, I guess I resented you. Everyone loved you when they could barely even stand me." She sighed. "Bye Buffy."  
  
"But there's a danger in loving somebody too much And it's sad to know it's your heart you can't trust There's a reason why people don't stay where they are  
  
Baby sometimes love just ain't enough"  
  
-Patty Smyth  
  
11:30  
  
Riley laid a red rose at Buffy's grave. He felt a tear slide down his face. "I guess this is it," he said. "I know that you loved me as well as you could. I never felt like I was good enough for you even though I know that you tried to keep me from feeling like that. I guess that it was meant to be like this, I just hate thinking that you had to go through all of this alone.  
  
"First, finding out that Dawn wasn't your sister. Then, your mother's death. It was so much to handle. I can't help but feel like if I had been here things would have been easier for you to handle. I'm sorry. I love you Buffy." He left.  
  
"I think I've already lost you I think you're already gone I think I'm finally scared now You think I'm weak, I think you're wrong" -Matchbox Twenty  
  
12:00  
  
Spike laid a dark red rose down. "I'm supposed to say how much we'll all miss you and how much we loved you," he said. "I guess you've heard all of that judging by the other flowers. All I'm going to say is that I loved you more than you'll ever know."  
  
Spike paused feeling tear of blood run down his cheek. "It was my fault, if I had just been stronger or faster you would still be here. God, it should have been me, not you. I'm the evil one. I'm the one who deserved it." He paused trying to compose himself. "You were my sunlight. You still are. I will remember you for all of eternity." Again he paused feeling another tear run down his face. "Goodbye Buffy."  
  
"Would you know my name If I saw you in heaven? Would it be the same If I saw you in heaven? I must be strong And carry on `Cause I know they'll be no more Tears in heaven" -Eric Clapton  
  
12:30  
  
Xander approached Buffy's grave. He looked down at it. Such a simple piece of rock, which would now serve as the only reminder to future generations of her existence. He sighed kneeling down and lying one yellow rose at her grave. "I loved you Buff," he said. "You were one of my best friends. I can't believe that after everything that you're gone." He ran a hand over the top of the tombstone.  
  
"You were the one who kept all of us together," he said. "You were our rock. You were everything to us. I can't imagine our lives without you." He looked up at the night sky. "The night just wont feel safe any more. Nothing will." He stood up. "I guess I should say good-bye. I only wish I knew how. I guess a simple see ya later will do. Good-bye Buffy."  
  
"And I'll right behind your shoulder watching you I'll be standing by side in all you do And I won't ever leave As long as you believe If you just believe" -Jordan Hill  
  
1:00  
  
Willow walked up to the grave already wiping away tears. She sat beside the tombstone and laid a yellow rose with Xander's rose. "I don't know how the world is going to go on," she said softly. "It feels like someone tore my heart out of my body and crushed it.  
  
"It feels like just yesterday it was you, me, Xander and Giles. Everything was so simple. I wish I could go back to those days if only for a few hours. They were our best times. Staying up at the library researching. It's just not fair why did everything have to change so fast. Now here I am mourning the loss of yet another friend."  
  
She leaned against the tombstone. "I don't know how we can carry on without you. You were like our beacon. We always knew what to do. Now, I don't know what we're supposed to do. Before our lives were dedicated to helping people and you, now, I don't know what we're supposed to do with our lives." She dissolved into tears.  
  
"Why did this happen? You did everything they wanted you to do. You were the slayer. You were everything the Powers That Be wanted and more. All you wanted was some semblance of a normal life. They couldn't even give you that?" She wiped away her tears. "Good-bye Buffy. I hope that we'll meet again."  
  
"When destiny calls you You must be strong I may not be with you  
  
But you've got to hold on"  
  
-Phil Collins  
  
1:30  
  
Dawn knelt before Buffy's grave laying a yellow red-tipped rose before it. "I can't believe that you're gone," she said softly. "First mom, now you. It's just too much. I'm not supposed to have to go through this. I'm only fourteen. In only a few months I find out that I'm not real, and then my mom dies, now you're gone. It isn't fair!" She began to sob. "I want you back. I can't live without you too." Giles approached holding a rose that looked exactly like hers. He pulled her to her feet and held her as she cried.  
  
"Please remember that you're not alone," he said softly. "Buffy was like my daughter and so are you. I love you like I love her." Dawn nodded not having any strength to speak. He laid his rose with the others. "Goodbye Buffy," he whispered before leading Dawn out of the cemetery.  
  
"The winter here's cold, and bitter It's chilled us to the bone. We haven't seen the sun for weeks Too long too far from home. I feel just like I'm sinking And I claw for solid ground. I'm pulled down by the undertow, I never thought I could feel so low, Oh darkness I feel like letting go.  
  
If all of the strength and all of the courage Come and lift me from this place. I know I could love you much better than this, Full of grace, Full of grace My love." -Sarah McLachlan  
  
2:00  
  
Angel walked to the grave. He looked down at it for a few moments the reality sinking in. He laid a white rose with a red tip next to the others. "You know," he started speaking softly. "If it weren't for you I don't think I'd be here. I'd probably still be in New York feeding off of rats. But in LA I have my own business, well it was mine now it's Wesley's. But still, I'm helping people, saving souls. It's rewarding, but still I miss you." He paused reading the epitaph 'Beloved protector of all.'  
  
"That's really fitting," he noted. "I actually thought that after a year things would feel better. I was really wrong. I still miss you and I still want to be with you. Now, you're gone. I had this fantasy that when I'd become human and you'd be released of your calling and we could be together, have 2.5 kids a white house with a picket fence, that we could grow old together and watch the sun rise in the mornings, now, that's not going to happen.  
  
"It's just like a light, one second you were alive, the next you were dead." He felt a blood tear slide down his cheek. "It happened too soon. You should have had more time, it wasn't long enough. Now, even I'm going to be able to grow old but you can't. It's not right.  
  
"I'll love you until I die. You will always be my girl. Even if I do find someone else (God right now the mere thought of that feels like blasphemy) but if I do you're still my soulmate. No matter what happens, I will love you forever." He placed a kiss on his fingers then touched his fingers to the stone. "Goodbye my love." He then stood and walked into the shadows.  
  
Twelve roses were lit by the moonlight. Three white roses symbolizing strength and purity. Four yellow roses simply symbolizing friendship. Two yellow roses with red tips symbolizing the love of a friend. Two red roses symbolizing love. And one white rose with a red tip symbolizing immortal love. 


End file.
